82: Chapter 82 Robbing Peter to Pay Paul

"Just wait and see, she won't take the software offline."

After saying that, he focused on revising his own project proposal.

Chen Guangke originally didn't believe Shen Yan's words.

It wasn't until the third day that the software still hadn't been taken offline.

Only then did Chen Guangke believe Shen Yan.

"Holy crap!"

"She actually didn't take the software offline. Now the software's rating has already dropped to just over two stars!"

Shen Yan held documents in one hand and coffee in the other.

"Isn't that normal? Who would give a high rating to software riddled with bugs?"

Chen Guangke couldn't figure it out.

"Even after things have gotten this bad, why doesn't she just take the software down?"

Shen Yan thought for a moment before replying:

"It's probably because they invested too much in early promotion; she doesn't want to give up just like that."

Just as Shen Yan had guessed.

The reason Chen Ling hadn't taken the software down yet was precisely because they had poured too many promotional expenses into it initially.

"What kind of useless people are you all?!"

"Why isn't this software's rating improving? Didn't I tell you to hire paid reviewers?!"

The Employees were extremely helpless.

With such a large population, the paid reviewers they hired simply stood no chance against the overwhelming tide of negative user reviews.

It wasn't an exaggeration to say it was like a praying mantis trying to stop a chariot.

But they also had no intention of explaining this to Chen Ling.

Because they knew that even if they explained, it would be useless.

Chen Ling never looked at the process; she only cared about the result.

Once the result failed to meet her expectations, she would attack indiscriminately.

Therefore, they unanimously chose to passively endure the scolding.

Chen Ling didn't know what they were thinking; she was still cursing.

After cursing for over half an hour, she finally calmed down.

"Have you hired staff for the project team yet?"

The HR Staff manager stepped forward and replied:

"The timeline was too tight; no one was willing to come in for an interview..."

In reality, the reason was that their salaries were too low.

Under normal circumstances, project team compensation had two structures.

One was a fixed salary. People on a fixed salary usually chose positions with higher pay.

Because only then could their livelihood be guaranteed.

The other structure was a base salary plus commission.

Their company used the fixed salary structure.

And the fixed salary they offered the project team Employees wasn't high.

Monthly income didn't even exceed five figures.

Furthermore, they didn't pay overtime wages to the project team Employees.

With such compensation and benefits, which capable sucker would be willing to come work here?

He had brought up increasing salaries to Chen Ling before.

But Chen Ling refused, and he had no recourse.

"You are the HR Staff manager. Can't you even handle the simple task of hiring a few people?"

"If there are no people on the project team, who will fix the bugs for me?"

The HR Staff manager quietly pursed his lips.

Who was the reason the project team was so short-staffed?

Not reflecting on himself, he even tried to shift the blame onto him...

Although that was what he thought, he didn't voice his true feelings.

"I will hire people as quickly as possible."

Chen Ling didn't want to continue raging either.

She gave a stiff "En" sound, then said to the promotion department staff, "Our software is currently infamous, you should be able to pull in advertisements, right?"

The promotion department staff looked troubled.

"Advertisements have indeed approached us, but those ads are mostly for dubious, three-no products, mostly scams. It's inappropriate for us, as a listed company, to accept them, or we risk being fined."

Chen Ling didn't listen at all.

To her, making money was what mattered.

As long as they weren't caught for illegal activities, wasn't it fine?

Thinking this, she issued an order, telling the promotion department to accept all those advertisements.

"Accept them! Take any advertisement, I don't care what it is! Have the graphic designers work overtime to create some videos and images to implant into the software."

The promotion department manager closed his eyes and sighed.

"Okay, I understand."

...

Two more days passed.

During these two days,

Shen Yan finally completed a new project proposal.

"Old Chen, what do you think of this project proposal?"

Chen Guangke took the proposal and flipped through it twice.

"Wow! You are too amazing! Only a few days, and you've already produced a brand new project proposal."

"And the thinking and creativity inside this are even better than the previous version!"

Shen Yan smiled proudly.

"Well, of course. I think I'm pretty amazing too."

Chen Guangke laughed and scolded him.

"But you get carried away when given a little leeway."

"Forget it, you're right, you really are amazing. Tsk, tsk, tsk. When can I ever be like you..."

Shen Yan patted Chen Guangke's forehead.

"Can you stop being so self-deprecating?"

"It makes it sound like your ability is terrible. If you were incompetent, I wouldn't have recruited you to be my partner."

Chen Guangke scratched his head shyly.

"Alright, alright, let's stop praising each other. If we keep going, I'm seriously going to throw up!"

Shen Yan burst out laughing.

With the project proposal finished, both men breathed a sigh of relief.

With a starting point, they could continue moving forward.

After the meeting notice was sent out, Shen Yan walked into the conference room to wait for the Employees to arrive.

These Employees had just returned to work, and every one of them had a joyful smile on their face.

"CEO Shen, are we starting a new project again?"

Shen Yan nodded, then shook his head.

"Actually, not exactly. This project software is based on modifications to the previous version."

"I've already asked Xiao Wu to print them out. Everyone will get a copy shortly so you'll know when you see it."

The Employees nodded, waiting for Wu Ya to finish printing and distributing the project proposals.

While waiting, someone suddenly brought up Xiao Xu.

"Oh right, CEO Shen, we don't know what happened to Xiao Xu. He suddenly stopped coming to work."

"We tried contacting him, but he isn't answering his phone. Did something happen to him? Should we call the police?"

At these words, Shen Yan and Chen Guangke both fell silent.

After a moment, Shen Yan spoke to them, "Regarding Xiao Xu's situation, I have something to tell you all."

Seeing how serious he was, everyone's expression involuntarily became solemn.

"Our project proposal was maliciously leaked before. I... searched around the company and found that the person who leaked the project proposal is very likely Xiao Xu."

A collective gasp echoed through the room.

None of them expected the culprit to be Xiao Xu.

Because in their minds, Xiao Xu was the most honest person in the company.

They truly couldn't believe that the company mole was Xiao Xu.

"Is it confirmed to be him?"

"Could there be some misunderstanding in this?"

Shen Yan lowered his gaze and told the truth:

"If I could, I would also hope this was a misunderstanding."

"A few days ago, when this matter first showed signs, I contacted Xiao Xu and asked him to come to the company."